


A Pearl Is...

by Lacerta09 (lovelyannelid)



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, pearl doesn't understand rose all the time, pearl is scarily devoted, pearl just tries to be the best pearl she can be, rose has a lot of responsibility
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-10
Updated: 2015-11-10
Packaged: 2018-04-30 22:23:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5181848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelyannelid/pseuds/Lacerta09
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Rose-Quartz forgets her sword in the training arena, Pearl fetches it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Pearl Is...

**Author's Note:**

> Weirdly enough, I used two perspectives to write Pearl: samurai and BDSM submissive. She's pretty twisted.

Pearl clutched Rose’s greatsword to her chest and let long, elegant legs carry her through their spaceship home and towards her commander’s room. Stars alone knew how Rose had forgotten her mighty weapon in the training arena, but it hadn’t gone unnoticed when Pearl did her weekly inspection of their ship and territories. How many days had the sword that defied Yellow Diamond laid on the ground, as if it were some ordinary trinket any old Pearl could summoned from light? Pearl had gasped when she’d stumbled upon it, pounced, clutched the thing to her body and now carried it as quick as she could.

                Rose’s sword was no common weapon. It was an extension of Rose, as much as her light-projected hands or feet or shield. Pearl felt honoured to touch the thing. She looked down at it, and a bolt of jealousy stabbed her chest. If she could, she would have traded places with the sword in an instant. What a glorious life that would have been; instrumental in victory, silent and purely devoted.

                Now the pearl moved with purpose. She had an excuse to enter Rose’s room and place the sword back in its rack. She inhaled a nervous breath and her synthetic heart pounded at the thought of such daring intimacy. To see Rose’s room when empty would be as thrilling as any battle, Pearl thought. No, more so.  In a battle she could catch glimpses of Rose’s majesty and splendor, but no amount of martial prowess could prepare someone to see the personal side of a historic figure.

                Pearl’s thin lips curved in a nervous, quavering smile as she approached the room portal. Her own quarters were simplest to harmonize with, but Pearl delighted in the effort required to activate the portal and attune her energy with that of Rose Quartz’s. She closed her eyes for a moment to focus herself. Her gem quivered and hummed to close fellowship with the higher frequency of a great quartz gem. The door split apart to reveal a bubblegum horizon, and a sweet, strawberry-scented breeze wafted over her.

                She stepped through, conscious of the heavy steel and leather in her arms.

Rose Quartz stood in the midst of a great bank of pink clouds, and the white river of her gown rippled and disappeared into the soft gradient that lifted and surrounded her form. Cotton candy hair cascaded in stormy ringlets that moved with each tilt and nod of the powerful gem’s head as she summoned a carnation-pink vanity set from the clouds and settled herself upon the chair. She pulled open a drawer and removed a silver hairbrush. Snatches of melody flowed from her lips as Rose Quartz pulled a curtain of curls over her shoulder and brushed lazy snarls from the hair of her projected light body.

                Pearl watched, frozen in silence in the doorframe with Rose Quartz’s sheathed sword clutched in thin, pale arms. Moments passed and she swallowed. Rose combed her hair, hummed, and sighed. Pearl’s heart beat fast again, but this time it was the most pleasant sensation Pearl had ever felt. She wanted to watch Rose forever.

                This wasn’t right.

                Pearl knew she had no right to ogle her commander like this, as if Rose were an object to be consumed by hungry eyes. Pearl dipped her gaze and, bound to honour, announced her presence with a throat-clearing cough.

                “Oh!” Rose Quartz said, and the moment was broken.

                Pearl stared at the tips of her slippers, head bowed. A quiet clink told her the silver hairbush returned to the vanity. The pearl waited and guilt tore the edges of her heart ragged, though she didn’t know why. She would think about Rose combing her hair later, when she danced alone.

                “My sword…” Rose Quartz said in the silence, and her gown rustled as she stood. “Pearl, please bring it here.”

                A command! Pearl’s breath hitched inwards. She could please Rose by obeying, and so obedience thrilled the pale pearl. She stepped forward on ballerina’s feet and dropped to one knee with the sheathed sword held aloft for her commander’s inspection.

                Rose said nothing.

                Pearl waited, patient and willing to be patient still. Rose could leave and Pearl would have remained still as a statue. She was a pearl; her purpose was to please with quick, efficient honour and submission. She felt most beautiful when she served, and so Pearl served with gusto.

                The sword shifted weight and lifted from Pearl’s hands. Pearl retracted her arms and hugged them to her chest, head bowed as she knelt before Rose.

                “Pearl, you’re so silly,” said Rose with a gentle lilt. “You don’t have to kneel.”

                “I want to, Rose Quartz,” Pearl replied. This was how she showed her worth, and prayed that the greater gem would acknowledge it.

                “Well, if you’re comfortable on one knee…” Rose said, and her clothing rustled as she turned to the massive bank of flamingo-coloured clouds. She hummed and the clouds before her blurred, morphed, blended into a thick swirl before it condensed into a wall of weapons.  

                “No, not here…” Rose murmured, and the wall mixed into a smudge. It resolved once more into a fresh wall of guns, knives, flails, pistols, rockets and clubs. This time a large hole gaped in the centre of the display. Pearl couldn’t see Rose’s face, but she heard the smile in Rose’s voice. “Here.”

                Unacknowledged and awkward, Pearl stood from one knee behind her commander. She clasped her hands behind her back, unsure of what to do with them. Should she go? Rose hadn’t told her what to do. Best to wait, Pearl decided, until Rose made her desires obvious.

                “Was it heavy?”

                Pearl blinked. Had that question been directed at her? She lifted her gaze to look Rose in the face, confused. Rose gazed at her with an inquisitive expression, and obviously expected a reply.

                “Uh,” Pearl said intelligently. “Was what heavy?”

                Rose Quartz giggled and the mass of curls around her shoulders jostled as she shook in amusement.

                “Oh, Pearl,” Rose sighed. “You always make me smile. Was my sword heavy?”

                 Her sword. Of course. Rose wanted to know if Pearl was strong enough to bear her weapon. Pearl shook her head, proud.

                “No,” she said. “It was nothing. I could carry it always, if you desired.”

                Pearl regretted for her offer. How bold! How forward! Too bold, too forward. She gritted her jaw and dipped her head again. Silence. Silence suited a pearl, Pearl chanted to herself as she recalled days in the training academy. Silence and obedience. Silence suited a pearl.

                “I would never wish that,” Rose said, and her voice lowered with sadness. “That would mean my battles would never end. How sad, to carry a sword always…”

                Pearl said nothing. She’d done enough damage by making Rose upset. Silence suited a pearl.

                Rose fell quiet and the pearl stared at her toes again, mind a flurry of self-criticism and harsh judgment.

                “It might surprise you,” Rose said, and from the corner of Pearl’s vision she saw the great gem cradle the sword and gaze at the familiar emblem on its scabbard. “But this sword is actually quite heavy.”

                Pearl blinked and lifted her head. What secret was Rose honouring her with?

                “It has a mind of its own. It was difficult to draw, and it’s almost impossible to swing,” Rose said, tone low with something like grief. Pearl tilted her head and her eyes found her commander’s face. Rose’s eyes remained fixed on the sword in her arms.

                “Maybe,” Rose continued. “It understands what it means to shatter a gem—or to ‘kill’ the things that ‘live’ on this planet.”

                “Is it enchanted?” Pearl asked, curious now.

                “No,” Rose said. “It’s just… been this way since I made it. I’ve never felt another sword like it. But then I’ve never bothered with another sword but this one, the finest ever made.”

                Pearl’s hand tingled where she’d touched the scabbard, and she felt as if she’d brushed with greatness. At the same time, something tugged at her mind. If the sword wasn’t imbued with technology, then it had to mean....

                Pearl made a decision. She would help Rose understand. She lifted her chin.

                “Rose Quartz,” she said, hardly able to believe her own daring. Pearl’s throat felt tight, but she forced out the words. “Ma’am. The sword—it carries the weight of our lives. Of your leadership. Of our belief in you. That’s why it’s heavy.”

                Rose fell silent, and when she smiled it was a bittersweet thing.

                “You’re sad,” Pearl said, feeling stupid. No matter what she said, it seemed to hurt Rose. Why?

                “No. I’m mournful of what Homeworld has done. The sword would be so much lighter—” said Rose Quartz, and she cupped Pearl’s jaw with one warm, soft hand. “If you all believed in yourselves.”

                “I don’t understand,” Pearl said, and her heart felt cold though the gentle palm of Rose Quartz warmed her jaw. She restrained the urge to nuzzle into the touch. She looked at Rose with wide, uncertain eyes.

                “I know,” Rose said and she smiled again with a gaze as tender as fresh, fragrant reeds. Her hand left Pearl’s face. “I know.”

                Pearl’s throat tightened. She didn’t understand. She didn’t understand! What had she done? She had served to the best of her ability, now as always, and Rose saw straight through her efforts. Rose understood that Pearl was weak and just pretended to be useful. Rose knew that this pearl was flawed, and was just too polite to mention it most of the time—expect for now. Now Rose Quartz let Pearl know how disappointed she felt with her pearl’s failure to do… something.

Pearl examined her toes again and wished she were a normal pearl, a useful pearl who didn’t constantly screw up. Why did she think anything other than silence suited a pearl?

“Pearl,” said Rose Quartz’s gentle voice. The sword clinked as it settled into its rack. “You pleased me very much by bringing my sword to me. I can’t imagine why I forgot it.”

Pearl said nothing.

“Can you, Pearl?” asked Rose, and Pearl floundered for a response that wouldn’t upset or anger the pink gem.

“You have a great many concerns, ma’am” Pearl offered weakly.

“… I guess I do,” Rose said after a moment. “But it’s good to know you’re watching. I’d be sad without my pearl looking over me.”

Pearl thrilled inside at the merest praise. She closed her eyes and exhaled a relieved breath. Finally, she’d given a correct response.

“Now and forever, ma’am,” she said, and bowed. Pearl meant it, too. Now and forever, she would fight for the kindest, wisest gem she’d ever known.

Rose giggled and the pearl’s heart leapt in her chest. She’d amused Rose with her respect! Success!

“Oh, Pearl,” Rose laughed with her voice that felt like home. “You’re so funny. You have your own path to follow, apart from me.”

“Forever back to you,” Pearl insisted. “No matter how many times my path takes me away, I’ll return to you, Rose Quartz. It’s my honour.”

Rose sighed, but this time she exuded no sadness.

“Thank you,” Rose said, fond. “You’re a treasure. I’ve some experiments to run, though, so—“

Pearl knew a dismissal when she heard one. Pearls were discrete. Pearls were tactful. She bowed her head and stepped back, towards the door.

“Until later, ma’am,” Pearl said and she turned to the door. It parted before her form and she paused at the doorframe, lingered like she’d been snagged on a hook.

“Yes?” asked Rose, voice calm and curious. “Is there something you wanted, Pearl?”

“Would the sword really be lighter if we believed in ourselves?” Pearl asked before she knew what came over her.

Rose ducked her head for a moment, then lifted it. She smiled, and her face was as radiant as the dawning sun and full of as much promise.

“Oh, Pearl, then it would be light as air!”

Pearl’s heart melted before the unrestrained warmth. She didn’t know what it meant, but when Rose spoke that way Pearl felt driven to action. She’d do anything for Rose, even try to believe in her own meager power, whatever that meant.

“I’ll do my best, ma’am,” Pearl breathed. She looked across the room to Rose and her fingers knotted before her hips in an anxious wringing of hands. “Just wait.”

“Forever,” Rose promised.

Pearl nodded and stepped forward, out of the strawberry-scented world. A moment later the door sealed behind her and she was bathed in the hyper-clean, machine- processed air of the temple.

Strange, Pearl thought. She felt as light as a feather after dropping the sword off.

Maybe, she thought before reason had its way, the sword really was special and heavy.

She shook her head. What was that thought? How silly! Pearls weren’t dreamers. She pushed the fanciful thought from her head and decided to carry on with her day.

She had a new mission.

Pearls were tenacious.

 

               

               

               


End file.
